ZIP 50226 vs ZIP 50243

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50226 (Polk City, IA) and ZIP 50243 (Sheldahl, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50226 has a population of 4,724 at 49 people per square mile, while ZIP 50243 has 244 at 171 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 50226 reports a median household income of $153,011 against $80,938 in ZIP 50243, with per-capita income of $60,573 vs $30,280. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 46.2% in 50226 and 31.1% in 50243. Poverty rate reads 5.9% vs 5.1%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 12.7% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $417,500 in 50226 versus $184,700 in 50243, with median rent of $867 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.5% vs 93.0%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.